A Report on the inauguration of Multi-Skill Leather Training Center at Kanpur

The Multi Skill Training Centre for Leather trades at Kanpur-Unnao Leather Cluster (KLC) campus was inaugurated on 27th July 2017 by Shri Satish Mahana, Hon’ble Minister for Industries Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. The training center will play a key role in skilling 50000 candidates across India and 10000 candidates in Kanpur Cluster under PMKVY – Special Project as per the MoU signed in the presence of our Hon’ble Prime Minister at Kanpur.

On this occasion, Shri. Satish Mahana distributed certificates for the successful candidates certified under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) scheme of PMKVY. Shri Mahana appreciated the efforts made by MSDE in promoting skilling in the leather sector. He assured the industry about support with land to set up industrial parks and other relaxations from UPSIDC, including security and help from online systems.

The event started with a welcome address by Shri R. Ramesh Kumar, IAS, CEO, LSSC. He said that leather industry is one of the major industries contributing to the GDP of the country and Kanpur holds a special place because its contribution in export is about Rs. 6,000 crores, and the Kanpur Leather industry has a business of more than Rs.16,000 crores. He also quoted from his recent visit to Vietnam and spoke about the role of skill development and its significance in the leather sector in Vietnam which has helped them grow at a very fast rate. He informed that the KLC infrastructure has been set up on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model which can scale and sustain the leather sector.

Shri Mukhtarul Amin, Chairman – CLE began his address with a quota on by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, “the more we give importance to skill development, the more competent will be our youth”. He shared an analysis that said, every 1 crore rupees of investment in the leather industry generates 250 jobs, which clearly shows that leather industry is a labour intensive industry.

Hence, skill development is extremely crucial for the leather industry to enhance productivity levels and move-up the value chain. He also stated that leather export is worth Rs. 38000 crores, out of which UP alone contributes approximately 40% of export profits i.e. Rs. 10000 crores. He reminded that we need 35 lakh workers by 2022, for which CLRI and FDDI plan to train 2 lakh workers per year.

Shri Javed Iqbal, Regional Chairman-CLE, spoke about skilling requirement of Uttar Pradesh and he invited the industry to take part in offering on-the-job training and apprenticeship to the students. He said that establishment of KLC training center in Kanpur is a milestone for the leather industry in the region and he would be happy to see the training center grow and support the students with on the job training and apprenticeship.

This speech was followed by an address by Dr. B. Chandrasekaran, Director-CLRI. He spoke about pollution issues and clean Ganga and he was confident that CLRI could help by adopting the Tamil Nadu model. He said CLRI is collaborating with LSSC and CLE for conducting tests in leather industry in their 70-year-old laboratory. He further re-emphasized on the commitment of CLRI towards economically nourishing industrial environment in the state of UP with successful collaboration with CLE and LSSC.

On this occasion, trees were planted by Shri Mahana and other dignitaries. The event ended with a vote of thanks from Shri O.P. Pandey, Executive Director, KLC, who focused on the advantages of training center established at KLC complex. The event received vast coverage in print and digital media.